New Season Brings New Reasons to Smile

                              Let the Hockey Season Begin


     Cha-ching! The new hockey season has only just begun with our first practice and already my wallet has been emptied. New skates for my ten year old, shoulder pads for my high school hockey player, plus gloves, and knee pads for both of them. The family budget took a huge hit this week. Can't believe my daughter's skates were two sizes too small! Yes, I am feeling pains of guilt having told her at the end of last season, "Oh come on, they can't hurt that much?!."  Lesson learned.

   Ah yes, I can't wait to sit in the stands of our ice cold rinks, blanket wrapped around the legs and hand warmers activated in every available pocket.  Practices and games will mean many trips to the rink and out of town. There will be endless dinner challenges, weekly spelling quizzes in the car on the way home from practice,and playing tag-your-it with the husband. Fundraising strategies will be discussed and launched. Tournaments will be scheduled. Sign up sheets for the penalty box, scorekeeper, and snacks for the team. Doesn't sound like much fun? The world of a hockey parent may be a little crazy and very hectic, but it is a wonderful world, and I wouldn't trade one crazy second of it. Especially when you witness those unforgettable moments. Those times when your children demonstrate not only great skill, but good character. Cha-ching.  Priceless.



Hockey Mom Defined

When she learned my 8 year old wanted to play hockey, Nancy Duffy shared this article with me. She had written it many years ago, when her boys played. It's been in my top desk drawer ever since. At the start of each season, I pull it out and share her words of wisdom with as many hockey parents as I can. I miss Nancy so much.
   

    The hockey mom is truly a model of unacclaimed virtue, a paragon of womanhood tested beyond all limits. She is someone who shivers at 4,015 rink sides from Elmira to Ottawa, from Niagara to New Jersey, and who drives through four-hour blizzards for a one-hour game. She buys $200 ice skates instead of furniture, lives six months in long underwear with skate guards in her pockets. She sifts through the moldy mysteries of a hockey bag, dripping over hockey pucks in drape folds or tries to maneuver past hundreds of splintered hockey sticks, too good to be thrown out, in the upstairs closet. She lugs the hockey bags on her shoulders when her child is a tyke, bakes cookies for the locker room when he's a squirt and billets young Canadian teenagers when he's a bantam.


     There are no holidays or time-outs for a hockey mom. The day after Christmas is always spent on the road to a tournament. It's almost Easter before the season ends. That means six months of car breakdowns in Massena and whiteouts in Pulaski and Oswego. Hockey moms don't flinch when they hear that five more games have been added to the schedule, though. They just postpone their cleaning and cooking for one more month. The hockey mom endures and pays the price as long as the ice is available. Somehow the 12-and 13-year-olds who cuddle their hockey sticks in the night make it all worthwhile.



By Nancy Duffy

Elbow Pads for Youth Hockey

Click on the video above for advice on picking the right pads for Mite, Squirt or Pee Wee hockey players. Below for your high school hockey player.

McKie Sports Shop

1005 State Fair Blvd.

Syracuse, New York 13209

(315) 487-2010

MOVIN' ON UP

Here's more solid advice from veteran hockey mom Tammie Vivlamore on getting your mite (and yourself) ready for the next level of play. Thanks Tammie! Let me know if you have some hockey thoughts you would like to share. Remember, like they sing in High School Musical...We're all in this together.....

Mite Parents, Are You Ready for Squirts?
by Tammie Vivlamore
So, you have been freezing in the rink for the past couple of years, watching your mighty little mite practice and go at it in games. This is when it's fun, pure and simple. Remember those
trips over the blue line during the breakaways? Or those times denying that's your kid when the puck gets whacked in on their own goalie?




How about all those time you had to cover your eyes when you knew your kid didn't quite have the knack for stopping yet and splat! They end up using the boards. Great times!




Well, now your mite is turning nine. He/she will be a squirt next season. Worried about vast differences? Don't be. There are a few noticeable differences between Mites and Squirts. First, will your child being playing travel (Central Section) or House (Snowbelt)? Do you even have a clue what those are? How do you decide?
House Teams
House teams play in the Snowbelt League. This league is designed to develop team and individual skills. This is not supposed to be a truly competitive league but competition does thrive there. These teams generally play in and around Central NY, as well as in Binghamton and Watertown. Snowbelt’s season ends in February with a “Snowbelt Jam”; a tournament played between Snowbelt teams at a “host” rink. A host rink is the rink that wins the bid for the tournament. There are several Jams at different rinks.

Travel Teams
Travel teams play in the Central Section League. This is a more competitive league. For the most part, Central Section plays in the same rinks as Snowbelt. The Central Section teams are more skilled and faster. They play for a chance to be in a State Tournament at the end of the season.
Outside games and Tournaments
Teams from both leagues are given time to choose games to play outside of their league. These are known as non league or pick up games. These are usually scheduled by the coaches and are used to help develop the teams. Teams are also given time to go to tournaments of their choice. Coaches will usually choose tournaments they would like to take their team to and then ask the parents to go. Tournaments are a good way to unite a team. The team spends a whole weekend together in a hotel “hanging out”. This is loads of fun!

How Do You Decide?
If your hockey player enjoys watching the scoreboard or checking out the crowd over chasing the puck and scoring goals, he might be a little overwhelmed playing Travel. A house team is probably a good fit for him.

If your son/daughter has to be the first one to the puck, uses their body like a wrecking ball, shoots pucks at your garage 15 hours a day, or just likes to be challenged, you may want to consider letting him try out for a travel team.
TRYOUTS??
That’s right. Try out dates are usually either posted at the rink or on your home association’s website. There is usually a fee for travel tryouts. This fee is used to cover expenses such as ice time. The try outs usually last for a couple of days sometimes longer. At these try outs, the players are put through a series of skating and hockey related drills. This is so evaluators and coaches can see the skill level of each player. Most of the time, the coaches will put the players in game like situations or scrimmage games. The players are evaluated and the travel teams are chosen. The results are usually posted on the association’s website sometime after evaluations. Sometimes the travel coach will call his new players to get to know them. The children that do not make the travel team will be placed in Snowbelt.

Games in General
Mite games are unpredictable. The age range is usually between six and eight years old. Some years, an association may have a mite team full of eight year olds. These teams usually dominate other teams that have a bigger mixture of ages. Sometimes a Mite team will have mostly six year olds. These teams usually GET dominated. Mite teams have a hard time trying to find other mite teams they are competitive with because of the large age group.
Squirts are only nine and ten years old. Because of the smaller age groups involved in squirts, teams are usually quite competitive. This makes games move a lot faster. If your youth hockey player is not ready, it can seem overwhelming to him at first. Don’t fret! A good coach and teammates can help Johnny adjust and get used to the level of play.
Squirts is still a lot of fun to watch. Johnny will still trip over the blue line, let the other team get the puck and possibly put the puck in his own net. Your child will also learn a lot about hockey and so will you.



Final Lesson
Squirts will need to learn how to dress themselves. Usually by the middle of the season, your squirt will only need your help when his/her skates need tying and the jersey gets stuck in the pads. So, the final most important lesson is….
The more your kids do for themselves, the less time spent in a smelly locker room. Now it is up to you to figure out what you will do with your new found free time. Yippee!
Can you say coffee run?